Forging a RWBY
by GreatWyrmGold
Summary: Over her first weeks at Beacon, Ruby has tried to forge four girls into one team. Her efforts have not been entirely successful, but an epiphany might be enough to make RWBY an actual team. November 2015 /r/RWBY MonCon submission.
1. Brawl and Fall

_Author's Note: Despite the similarity between events of this chapter and some in Volume 3, Episode 2, "New Challengers...", this concept was conceived almost immediately after reading the MonCon theme. Any similarities are coincidental and unintentional._

"Thanks for training with us, guys."

Jaune smiled. "No problem, Ruby. We're glad to help. And training is good."

"I know, right? We've been practicing some neat moves."

Weiss and Blake exchanged glances. They weren't entirely convinced that the "neat moves" were worth the time or effort to learn. Certainly, they didn't seem likely to be useful in actual combat. Still, Ruby was the leader, and maybe practicing would be a good team-building exercise.

"So..." Jaune scratched his head. "Should we just...start hitting each other, or..."

"Um, maybe we should get to opposite ends of the arena first?"

"Oh, yeah, that sounds good." Teams RWBY and JNPR walked to the edge of the sparring room where Goodwitch's combat classes were held, before lining up and readying their weapons.

"...What now?" Nora asked.

Ruby shrugged. "Um...ready, set, go?"

Nora, Pyrrha, and Yang charged forward at once, while Blake and Ren moved to the flanks. Ruby quickly moved in front of Weiss and began shooting Pyrrha, who caught the shots on her shield. Nora ran towards Yang, shooting a few grenades to take her attention away from Jaune; Pyrrha ignored the impending brawl, intent on attacking Ruby and Weiss. Ren began shooting Ruby, and Blake began shooting Jaune, who ran to hide behind Nora.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted. "Petal Flurry!"

"...Which one is that, again?"

"You and me!"

"Yes, but doing _what?_ "

"It's the one where you do that long sheet of ice and I go really fast you make me faster and I hit them!"

Weiss swung Myrtenaster at the ground, slinging a trail of white-blue Dust at the ground towards Pyrrha. It quickly turned into a trail of flat ice. Ruby activated her Semblance and began sliding on the ice, accelerating herself further by firing her weapon; Weiss enhanced this by use of several vertical glyphs. But Pyrrha knew exactly what was coming, and had stepped too far from the trail for Ruby to strike her. With no way to stop, Ruby kept moving; she deactivated her Semblance, but had built up too much speed for that alone to easily slow her down. When Ruby's feet made contact with the rough floor, she fell down, rolling and sliding a quarter of the way across the arena before coming to a stop.

Nora, having transformed Magnhild into a hammer, leapt and swung downward at Yang, who was punching upward at her. They clashed, with a great noise that echoed through the arena. Ren and Pyrrha both opened fire on Weiss, who struck the ground and created an icy shield around herself.

"Nora!" Jaune shouted. "Shoot the shield!"

Nora backed off and swung her hammer, releasing a grenade at the right point in the arc before letting the momentum of the oversized weapon drag her out of the way of Yang's next strike. The grenade struck Weiss's barrier, reducing it to a chest-high wall and freezing rubble. Pyrrha and Ren immediately continued shooting at Weiss, who ducked behind her wall.

Blake leaped forward, leaving a shadow clone in her wake, and threw her blade at Nora. Its ribbon caught around Magnhild's shaft and pulled tight, threatening to disarm Nora. Jaune yelled and charged at Yang, who turned away from Nora to deal with Jaune. Pyrrha turned around to aid Jaune, while Ren continued suppressing fire and advancing on Weiss.

Ruby slowly stood up. "Yang! Blake! Bumblebee!"

Blake pulled her weapon back, letting it unwind from Magnhild. "Which one is—"

Nora stepped away from Yang as she punched Jaune in the face, sending him flying across the ground. Nora transformed her weapon into a grenade launcher again and shot at Blake. The grenade struck one of Blake's shadow clones as she jumped directly upwards, using her shadow clone to assist her lunge at Nora.

"No, no, no! We _practiced_ , guys!"

Nora turned her weapon back into a hammer and smashed past Blake's guard, slamming her into the ground. Pyrrha shot Yang in the back before she could kick Jaune (who was still on the ground), before transforming Milo into its javelin form. As Yang turned around, Pyrrha threw her weapon at the blonde, who caught it. Pyrrha was already charging, and shoved Yang to the ground while her attention was diverted. The two of them began struggling over the spear.

Ren came behind Weiss's cover and began firing directly at her. She stood up and twirled Myrtenaster, switching to Fire Dust, before swinging at Ren, producing a wide spray of flame. He rolled underneath and into a fighting stance. Weiss turned her rapier's cylinder before lashing out with a bolt of dark violet energy; Ren crossed Stormflowers' blades and blocked the bolt with his Aura. Weiss charged at Ren, thrusting at him. Ren caught the blade between the grip and blade of the weapon in his left hand, but Weiss twisted, yanking it out of his hand. Ren swung with the other; Weiss parried the blow, but it was a feint, intended to bring her attention to his right. Ren's left palm slammed into Weiss's side, the blow imbued with Aura. Their Auras repelled one another, but as Ren had braced himself, Weiss stumbled to the side while Ren merely had to adjust his stance.

Ruby dashed towards Ren, knocking him backwards with a single strike of her scythe. "Weiss! Whi—"

"Just _hit_ him, you dunce!"

"Okay, okay!"

While the two of them were arguing, Yang kicked Pyrrha off of her. Nora, who had been chasing Blake to make sure she couldn't grab her weapon, turned and fired a shot at Yang. She threw Milo to the side and rolled out of the way, resting partially on top of Jaune, who stirred. Yang put a hand directly on Jaune's face and shoved herself up, preparing to fight the JNPR girls. Nora was charging, but Pyrrha was on the defensive; Yang barreled at Pyrrha, hoping to knock her over before Nora got to the brawl. Pyrrha sidestepped her punch and grabbed her shield by the edge. Pyrrha stepped back and threw it at Yang like an oversized discus, but Yang blocked it. Nora struck then, knocking Yang up almost into the arena ceiling, but she came down firing at the other girls. Pyrrha rolled aside, grabbing her shield as she passed, but Nora took the strikes on her Aura. Yang slammed into the ground, forcing the others back and leaving a small crater. The force of Yang's landing charged her Semblance, causing her hair to glow slightly. Blake struck Nora from behind, forcing her to divert her attention.

Ren dove for his weapon, but Ruby stuck Crescent Rose into the ground in front of him. Ren stepped around, but a glyph flung the weapon into the air; it landed behind Ruby. Ren vaulted off of Crescent Rose and struck Ruby with his shoulder, knocking them both to the ground, with Ren on top. He fired wildly at Weiss with the weapon he still held while grabbing the other with his free hand. Ruby grabbed Ren's right arm and bit it, causing him to cry out in pain and drop that weapon; Ruby grabbed it, and jabbed Ren with his own blade. Weiss moved forward and stomped on Ren's ankle; Ren rolled onto his back and shot at Weiss with the weapon he held.

Nora knocked Blake down, before focusing on Yang once more. Yang had been prevailing in her struggle against Pyrrha, who was mostly defending and unable to land a kick on Yang. However, forced to divert her attention between two assailants, Yang's defenses were strained; Nora and Pyrrha began landing blows. She was knocked on her face, not by either Nora's hammer or Pyrrha's shield, but by a blow she could not expect. Jaune had staggered up and slammed his shield into Yang's back. He raised his blade, but was interrupted by—

"What is the meaning of this?" The fighting stopped as Glynda Goodwitch entered the arena.

"Well..." Ruby stood up and dropped Ren's weapon. "We thought we could...spar some, practice outside of class?" She smiled sheepishly and put a hand behind her head.

"Next time, schedule your practice more carefully. I have a third-year combat class in ten minutes, and I expect the eight of you to clean up the arena before then."

Jaune raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Couldn't you just...um...swish your wand and make everything ready in a second or two?"

"And what kind of lesson would that teach, Mister Arc? That when you fail to obtain sufficient information about a situation, someone else will just come in and make it all better? I think not."

* * *

"I can't believe it," Weiss muttered as she lifted a chunk of Dust-forged ice.

Ruby grunted as she tried to snap a piece off of the ruined ice barrier. "What?"

"Wait for your sister to break that a little. It occurred to me that you were communicating _less_ during this fight than initiation."

"Huh?" Ruby kicked the barrier before grabbing another piece of ice.

"Remember? The forest fire?"

"Oh, yeah, that. I communicated _plenty!_ Today, I mean, not then."

"You _talked_ plenty today. It isn't _communication_ unless the other person _understands_ you."

"It's not _my_ fault—"

"Yes, it is. If you—"

"You have seven minutes left," Glynda said. "You may wish to wait until after to discuss your communication issues."

Neither student argued.

* * *

"It was nice of Miss Goodwitch to fix the floor once we got all the pieces," Jaune said as the teams walked down the hall.

"How would _we_ have fixed it?" Weiss asked.

"Oh, _anything's_ possible if you try..."

Weiss stepped away from Jaune. "Some things. Others will _never_ happen, no matter how much you try."

"Really?" Jaune smiled. "Yesterday, if someone told me I would _never_ hit Yang, I just might have believed them, but, well, you saw what happened."

Weiss sighed. "I can assure you, you will never 'hit' me."

"I dunno," Ruby said. "I mean, if you're distracted with some other guy, Jaune might be able to slip in and—Yang, are you laughing?"

Yang shook her head and stifled her giggles. "No, no, no. By the way, nice shot, Jaune."

"Thanks! You guys did pretty well, too."

Ruby sighed and looked at the ground. "You guys stomped us."

"Well..." Jaune scratched his head. "it was kinda close. I think?"

Ruby sighed. "Don't...just don't. I know we lost badly."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. W—We've been training a lot, and—"

" _We've_ been training, too!" Ruby said, turning away from Jaune. "We've trained for weeks, but where have we gotten? Nowhere! We suck!" Ruby began hitting her head against the corridor wall.

"No— _no_ , you guys don't _suck_ , you were just—you need to work on your teamwork a little, that's all."

Ruby continued to hit her head against the wall. "We _have_ been working on teamwork! I've been thinking of all kinds of things we can do together, and we've—"

Ren put his hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Teamwork isn't learning special moves. It's understanding your team."

Ruby stopped hitting the wall and turned around. "What do you mean?"

"Like when Yang and Blake were about to beat up Nora and I got Yang to beat me up instead?" Jaune asked.

Ren nodded.

"Teamwork hurts."

"Sometimes? Yes."

"Or when Yang was about to fight Jaune," Pyrrha said, "and I stepped in to stop her from hurting him. I knew Ren could handle Weiss, but that Jaune needed help. Or—"

"I've got it!" Ruby said. "Come on, team, let's train!"

"Didn't you hear what Goodwitch said?" Blake asked.

"I know, I know, but I think outside should be pretty open right about now. Let's go!"


	2. The First Task

"What's the plan, Rubes?" Yang mussed her younger sister's hair.

"Stop that, I'm not a kid anymore! I'm your leader, you must do what I—" She was interrupted by Yang hugging her.

Blake sighed. "I, for one, would like to know what Ruby has in mind."

Yang let go of Ruby and stepped back.

"Thank you, Blake. Now, today we're gonna learn more about each other. Let's start by sitting in a nice little circle. Or square."

Ruby sat down, followed by Yang and (more reluctantly) Blake. Weiss's mouth hung open.

"I am _glad_ to see that Weiss is excited. Anyways, first—"

"Why?" Weiss asked. "Why are you making us do this?"

"Simple! If we know more about each other, we'll know what we'll be doing, and we can help each other more, and then we'll be _awesome!_ Have a seat!"

Weiss rolled her eyes and glanced at Blake, who shrugged. Weiss sighed and sat down between her and Ruby.

Unlike half of her team, Yang looked and felt excited. "What are we going to start with, our leader?"

"Don't call me that. I was thinking we could start with our favorite colors? Mine is red."

Weiss sighed. "I _never_ would have guessed."

"Well, it's true! See, we're already learning more about each other."

"I was being _sarcastic!_ "

"I've always liked yellow," Yang said. "What about you, Weiss?"

"Do you need to ask?"

"...Is it..."

"It's _white!_ And Blake's is black."

"Actually...I've always preferred gray."

"See?" Ruby said. "We _are_ learning more about each other! What should we talk about next? Oh, I know, favorite food! Strawberries! No, ice cream! No, strawberry ice cream! Or maybe just strawberries?"

Yang smiled. "I never really liked ice cream that much, but—"

"She gets brain-freeze," Ruby said.

Yang sighed. "No, I—it's not _that_ bad. My favorite food is probably those burgers Dad makes."

Ruby wrinkled her nose. "He always burns them."

"I believe it would be more accurate to say that everyone else always undercooks them."

" _Dad_ thinks he burns them."

"If he _really_ thought that, would—"

"Tuna salad," Blake said.

"Wha?"

"My favorite food is good tuna salad, made with good Vacuo mayonaise."

"Ew, fish," Ruby muttered.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Personally, I'm disgusted by the mayonaise."

"Too _peasant_ for your refined tastes?" Yang asked.

"No! It's just that it's—"

"I am sorry to have offended, your highness. And, praytell, what _is_ thy favorite food?"

"...I am fond of angel-food cake," Weiss said, "particularly when dampened with milk."

"Fancy," Yang said.

Weiss sighed. "Let's just...what's the next question?"

"What's your favorite bird?" Ruby asked. "I've always liked falcons."

Weiss and Blake facepalmed simultaneously. It was going to be a _long_ afternoon for them.

* * *

"I think we're done here," Weiss said.

Ruby looked at Weiss in shock."What? Why?"

"You just asked what boy in school we all liked, I think we're scraping the bottom of the barrel."

Yang pretended to stifle her laughter. " _One_ of us sure is. I can't believe Ruby has a crush on—"

" _Yang!_ Not. The. Point! We're here to learn as much as we can about each other, and—we can't do that if we decide we don't want to know _some_ things."

Weiss sighed. "Sorry, it's not my decision. I am _i_ _ncapable_ of caring about what boys you may or may not want to kiss."

Ruby frowned. "Are you just jealous?"

"...What?"

"You and Jaune get along pretty—"

"If you think I get along with Jaune, you are even more _blind_ than _he_ is!" Weiss's hands were clutched into fists.

Blake stood up and stood between Weiss and Ruby. "We should try to get along. Weiss doesn't like any boys, that's perfectly fine."

"Oh, I get it," Ruby said. "Weiss, what _girls_ —"

"Why is this the most _important_ thing we can do?" Weiss demanded. "As a team, I mean."

"...Oh Dust," Ruby muttered. "Please tell me you don't have a crush on me. That would be...weird."

Weiss furrowed her "Listen to me. I don't have a crush, on _anyone_ ,and even if I _did_ , it would be _none_ _of your business!_ "

Ruby glanced at Yang. "She's telling the truth," Yang said. "Sadly, I don't think there's anyone Weiss loves more than her reflection."

"Oh thank goodness."

Weiss opened her mouth, but Blake managed to talk over her. "MAYBE, WE COULD FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO."

Ruby sprang up. "Great idea! I've wanted to put all of this new knowledge and these new facts into practice for _ages!_ "

"We've been here twenty minutes," Blake said.

Weiss sighed. "That short?"

"Hold on," Yang said. "I told, and Ruby told, and Weiss eventually told, but Blake's been quiet."

Blake stepped away from Yang. "I...don't think I like where this is going."

"Ah..." Yang grinned. "Who is he?"

"Or she?" Ruby added.

Blake sighed and looked at the ground. "It's...complicated."

Yang's smile grew. "Go on, we've got all day."

"I've...I just don't feel like...like I'm ready."

"You're _seventeen_ ," Ruby said. "That's plenty old enough!"

"It's not that, Ruby. It's...I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

Yang's smile started to fade. "I'd point out that _we_ told, too, but..."

"This is different. There was...Just trust me. Please."

Awkward silence settled over the team. Blake walked to where she had been and sat down, a bit farther from her team.

"Do you need a hug?" Ruby asked.

"No...I appreciate the thought."

There was another pause.

"So," Ruby said.

"So," Yang agreed.

"I...well, we can...put what we learned into practice."

"What did you have in mind?" Blake asked.

"Hold on one second!" Ruby jumped up and dashed away, propelled by her Semblance. A minute later, she came back with two sticks of different sizes. "Yang, can I borrow your pocketknife?"

Yang sighed, dug a small folding knife out of her breast pocket, and tossed it to Ruby. "You really need to start carrying yours."

"I know, I know." Ruby whittled one end of each stick, not enough to sharpen either but enough to clearly tell which end was which. "Right. The way this game works is that we throw these sticks into the air. Whoever the long one points to asks a question about whoever the short one points at, and the others have to guess what the answer is!"

"What if they both point at the same person?" Yang asked.

"Than that person asks a question about herself and the rest of us have to guess. _Who's ready?_ " Ruby threw the sticks into the air. The long one landed outside and pointed away from the circle, the smaller landed on Weiss's head.

"Ow! You _dolt_ , be more careful next time!"

"Perhaps we should try something else," Blake said.

"But...this game is the _perfect_ way to test how well we can guess about each other!" Ruby said.

"It..." Blake sighed. "Even so, there are more effective ways to choose people. Perhaps spinning something in the middle?"

"The sticks don't spin well," Ruby pointed out.

"We could get something other than sticks."

"Like what?"

"A glass bottle would be smooth and dense enough that it wouldn't slow down much on the grass, and its ends are clearly distinct."

"You want to spin a bottle?" Yang asked. "I'm up for that."

Blake sighed. "I don't want to change what we're choosing people for, let me make that clear."

"I'm sure Weiss is disappointed," Yang said.

"Wha—Why—I—"

Yang snickered.

"Guys, let's stop laughing at Weiss," Ruby said. "I'll go find a bottle and then we can get to the game."

Ruby sped off, leaving rose petals to drift. Before they reached the ground, she had returned, wiping a glass bottle on her cloak. "I found a bottle!" Ruby sat back down. "Can we get to the game now?"

Yang grabbed the bottle and spun it. The bottle stopped spinning, pointed at Blake. Yang spun it again, and it pointed at Weiss.

"Okay!" Ruby said. " _Blake_ , ask a question about _Weiss_ , then me and Yang will say what we think the answer is, then Weiss says what the real answer is!"

Blake considered asking about Weiss's opinion on Ruby's game, but she didn't want to be a wet blanket. Instead, she said, "What is...Weiss's favorite...book genre?"

"I bet Weiss loves reading her textbooks," Yang said. "When she can't get her hands on a Playboy."

Weiss sighed. "Yang, I understand why you found that funny the first time. But even that fades with use, and you've made the joke too many times. It's just annoying now."

Ruby sighed. "Guys, stop fighting. We're supposed to be teambuilding! I think Weiss likes romance books, or maybe mysteries. Ooh, or mystery-romances!"

"Good mystery novels are excellent," Weiss said, "but they're so hard to find. Most are cliche-riddled at best and crippled by plot holes at worst. I suppose I'd like a good romance novel if any existed. Mostly, I enjoy suspense novels." Weiss took the bottle and spun it disinterestedly; it barely turned, landing on Yang. The blonde took the bottle and twirled it, leaving it spinning on the grass for nearly half a minute before stopping on Ruby.

"I get to ask a question about my little sister!" Yang hugged Ruby.

"Yang...please stop..."

"I know! Why does Ruby like Jaune? I sure can't explain it."

"It probably helps that he doesn't hug her at random," Weiss said. "...Actually, come to think of it, that's probably part of it. I could probably respect Jaune a little if he wasn't so pathetically persistent."

"Neither quite fits with the others at Beacon," Blake said. "Ruby is two years younger than everyone else in her class, while Jaune is..."

"Incompetent?" Weiss said. "Pathetic? Annoying?"

"Jaune?" Yang suggested.

"He lacks skill," Blake said. "His lack of skill sets him apart from everyone else. He and Ruby are awkward around even their peers, which made them more isolated than the differences alone. But they still feel a deep need for companionship. So when they met, Jaune didn't look at Ruby as a little girl, and she didn't look at him as a failure. They saw someone who understood what it meant to be alone, and who didn't know what to do about it."

Ruby frowned. "You think I'm a little girl?"

"No, but I imagine more than a few people did in your first week or two. First impressions stick, whether you want them to or not."

Ruby crossed her arms and turned away. "I don't know where you got all of that from, but it's not true. I'm not a social outcast!"

Yang smiled. "How many friends do you have?"

"I have you guys, and Jaune, and...there's that one upperclassman with the really big gun..."

"Do you even know her name?" Weiss asked.

"...Shut up. I like Jaune because he's nice, and because he _doesn't_ try to read stupid things into everything I do. That's it!"

Yang hugged Ruby and patted her on the bacl. "It's okay, it's only been a month, and you've had lots of new classes.. You'll make new friends, you just have to open up a little."

"Yang, stop it, I'm fine!" She wormed away from Yang. "Stupid question."

"I learned something about you, Ruby," Blake said.

"And I learned something about Blake," Weiss added.

"...Beg pardon?"

"All that stuff you were saying about Ruby—it applies to you, doesn't it? You only noticed it, or thought you noticed it, because you felt it."

Blake looked away. "...I've had similar experiences."

"It's okay, you've got us!" Yang tried to hug Blake, but she moved quicker than Ruby.

"I appreciate the thought, but I'm fine. I...I don't mind being alone."

Ruby whirled the bottle; when it stopped, the narrow end pointed at Yang. She spun the bottle once more, and it pointed at Weiss.

Yang smiled. "I can get the ice queen to reveal her secrets..."

"That's not what we're doing!" Ruby said. "We're just trying to learn about each other."

"I can do that, too. Hm...what is your bank account number?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth.

"Joking, joking. It's no good without an ID, anyways. Hm...how about we guess Weiss's secret crush? I bet she likes Jaune."

Weiss closed her eyes and shook her head. "Why? Why me?"

"Who's that person with the blonde mohawk on the bird team?" Ruby asked. "Ros or Rose or something? ...Blake?"

"Do you mean Russel Thrush?"

"Yeah, him. He seems...well, not nice, but Weiss isn't nice either—"

"Hey!"

"—and he has cool knives, and I guess he's kinda pretty. What do you think, Blake?"

"I don't see why Weiss wouldn't tell the truth. She barely knows anyone here—she's from Atlas, and she probably didn't go to a public combat school like Signal. It's not like we _need_ to find boys—"

"—or girls—" Ruby added. Weiss rolled her eyes.

"—that we like just because we're at Beacon."

"Well, Weiss?" Yang said.

"I think we should go inside," Weiss said.

"But we just started!" Ruby whined.

"We can continue inside, but I'm pretty sure it's going to rain any minute now. I don't know about you, but _I_ don't want to be playing outside when it's raining."

"Are you calling me a little girl?" Ruby asked.

"What? No! Why would you _think_ that?"

The four Huntresses-in-training bickered most of the way to the door. When the rain started, they stopped, instead focusing on getting inside without getting too wet.


	3. The Second Task

Ruby tried to wring out her cloak.

"It will dry," Blake said. "Just lay it on the back of a chair for a few minutes."

"I wish it didn't get all wet," Ruby muttered.

"At least it cleaned the bottle gunk off, partly," Weiss said. "And some other stuff. How often do you _wash_ that thing?"

"For a while, Dad and I had to wrestle Ruby's cape away from her."

" _Yang!_ I haven't done that since I was nine!"

"I _said_ for a while."

Ruby groaned. "Let's just...let's just start this again." She spun the bottle on the table the team was sitting at; it pointed at herself. She flicked the end to get it spinning, and it pointed at Blake. "Right...what is Blake's favorite...book?"

"Nnjas of Love," Yang said immediately.

Blake sighed. "I swear, it's like you think that's the _only_ book I _ever_ read."

"Okay, yeah, but _this_ time I actually have a point. If there's anything I learned from the stuff outside, it's that you're lonely. Even if you say you're okay with it—even if you _are_ okay with it—it's true. And how do people deal with loneliness? Trashy romance novels!"

"Ninjas of Love isn't _that_ trashy," Blake muttered. "And I don't read it because I'm lonely."

"Blake strikes me as more of a speculative-fiction-epic type," Weiss said. "I've seen the _Elementalist_ trilogy on her bookshelf, are they your favorites?"

Blake nodded. "They're among my favorites, yes. I'm not sure I could pick just one." She turned the bottle one way before spinning in the other; it pointed at Ruby.

"Yay! Me again!" Ruby struck the bottle, sending it spinning off the table; Weiss caught it. "I guess that means I ask a question about you?"

Weiss shrugged. "I guess. Just don't make it another what's-your-favorite-thing question."

"Okay. Um...why does Weiss fight with a Dust Rapier?"

Yang shrugged. "Her dad probably gave it to her."

"I don't think you're wrong," Blake said, "but I think there's more to it. Weiss cares about her family, and the Schnees are aristocrats. Using the elegant Dust Rapier instead of a more powerful or versatile weapon—"

"My rapier is versatile!" Weiss snapped.

"Your _Dust_ is versatile," Blake countered. "You would have even more versatility with almost any folding-frame weapon with similar capabilities. Your weapon is a connection to your family, and your past."

Weiss shrugged and spun the bottle.

"You didn't say who was right," Yang said.

"...I suppose you both are, a little. Also, I know how to fight with Myrtenaster, but I couldn't fight with an arming sword or an axe or whatever. The bottle's pointing at me again." Weiss started it turning again.

"But we were right?" Yang asked.

"Of course. I have a close relationship with my family. I love Winter and my parents, and they love me back."

"Um, isn't that what family does?" Ruby asked. "Like, normally?"

Yang hugged Ruby. "Yup! We sure do!"

"Yaaang!"

"Oh come on, Ruby, this is what big sisters do! Right, Weiss?"

"Look," Weiss said, "the bottle's pointing at me again. I guess that means I need to ask a question about me that you have to answer."

"Why are you being so evasive about your family?" Blake asked.

"You're not asking the questions, I am. Um, how about something simple, like my favorite fruit?"

"Apples," Ruby said.

"Apples," Yang agreed.

"Wasn't that one of the questions Ruby asked outside?" Blake asked.

"My mistake. Let's spin the bottle again." Weiss followed her own suggestion.

"I get to ask a question about Blake!" Ruby said. "Um...do you mind if I ask about that thing we were talking about outside? When I asked about crushes?"

"Very much," Blake snapped.

"Yeah, I guessed. Um...if you could be any kind of animal, what would you be?"

"A cat?" Yang guessed.

Blake paled. "Um—why do you say that?"

Yang laughed. "It's not a pun about getting pussy, I'm being serious for once. You're all athletic, you'd like being able to jump and climb. And you like being alone, and cats do that a lot."

"I think Blake would be more of an owl," Weiss said. "Blake seems like she would be a bird, with how often she seems like she wants to just fly away, and I've always imagined that if any birds were bookworms, they would be owls."

"...I suppose I'd rather be an owl than a cat. I would like to be able to fly." Blake twirled the bottle. It spun five times before pointing back at Blake. She spun it again, and it landed on Weiss.

"Why _are_ you being so evasive about your family?" Blake asked.

Weiss shifted in her seat.

"I bet she secretly hates her big sister," Ruby said.

Yang frowned. "...Why was that your first guess?"

"I dunno...Weiss doesn't talk much about her, though."

"She doesn't talk much about her mom or dad, either," Yang pointed out.

"Yeah, but she doesn't talk about her sister more."

"What?"

"I mean, the way Weiss doesn't talk about her sister is weirder than how she doesn't talk about her parents. It's _what_ she doesn't say, too."

"I dunno. I think it's that she knows something. She thinks they're evil and can't or won't admit it."

"For what?" Blake asked. "Questionable business partners? Exploiting their faunus labor?"

Weiss wrinkled her nose at Blake. "The Schnee Dust Corporation does _not_ exploit its faunus workers."

"...more than its human ones?" Yang asked.

"The corporation does not exploit _any_ of its workers!"

"So why don't you like talking about your parents?" Ruby asked.

"Well..."

"Hello, ladies."

Weiss (and, to a lesser extent, the rest of her team) leaped out of their seats and looked behind Weiss. Jaune was standing behind her, with a goofy smile he doubtless thought was charming and suave.

"Mind if I...join in?"

"We're not playing Spin the Bottle," Yang said.

"But...you're spinning a bottle..."

"We're playing a game I invented!" Ruby exclaimed. "We spin the bottle and ask questions about each other and then guess and the person answers them!"

"I...see...can I play? Pyrrha's studying for Peach's test and Nora wanted to go into town, so I'm kinda alone."

"Where's Ren?" Weiss asked.

"You know Nora. Where do you think?"

"I wouldn't mind," Ruby said, "but this is a _team_ exercise and—"

"You wouldn't want to spend all day alone, would you, Ruby?" Weiss spun the bottle. "Yang asking about...Ruby."

Yang smiled.

"Please don't ask anything about Jaune," Ruby said.

"I thought she was asking a question about you?" Jaune said, sitting down between Weiss and Blake.

"Right!" Ruby said. "Which is what she's doing. Right? What's the question?"

"Hm...something about Ruby...what boys you have crushes on?"

"Yaaang! I already told you that!"

"Yeah, but Jaune wasn't there."

"I don't really care," Jaune said. "I mean, I get why it matters to you, but if you just started talking about boys I'd probably just fall asleep."

Yang sighed. "Fine, fine. How about this—if you had to fight with one of our weapons instead of yours, which would it be?"

"Wait," Jaune said, "just you three or me too?"

"Show of hands," Yang said, "who thinks Ruby would rather fight with a boring old sword than a sword that can shoot ice or turn into a gun?"

No one raised their hand.

"Right," Jaune said. "I don't think any of your weapons would really fit how Ruby fights, but Yang's gauntlets hit hard and can throw you around like Ruby's scythe, so I'm guessing that."

"...What Jaune said," Blake said. Weiss didn't want to vocally agree with Jaune, but she did nod.

"Next time, Jaune speaks last." Ruby frowned at Jaune. "I mean, it's nothing personal, but it kinda defeats the purpose if you just give answers and the people on the team don't actually think about it."

"Yeah, I get it. Thanks for letting me play anyways." Jaune twirled the bottle; it pointed at Blake. Blake turned it next; after a few spins, the narrow end indicated Weiss.

"Can we re-spin?" Ruby asked. "We just did this." Ruby smacked the bottle before anyone answered; it pointed at Jaune.

Jaune frowned. "So, I get to ask a question about one of you this time, and everyone else has to guess the answers?"

Ruby nodded. "That's how the game works."

Jaune looked at the bottle and carefully flicked one end of it. It spun most of the way around the table before pointing at Weiss.

"He should spin it again," Weiss said immediately.

"Why?" Ruby asked. "He spun the bottle, and it's pointing at you. Those are the rules."

"But when Blake..." Weiss closed her eyes and sighed. "Fine." She turned to Jaune. "But if you ask anything... _personal_ , one of us is leaving. And I'll hit you."

"Be nice, Weiss," Ruby pleased.

"It's okay, I've got a good question. Unless asking what qualities you'd like in a boyfriend is too personal?"

"... _What?_ "

"One who shuts up and leaves her alone," Yang said.

Blake shrugged. "I imagine Weiss would prefer to date someone who she asked. She likes to be in control—"

" _Excuse me?_ "

"—and likes her life to be in what she considers its proper order to be—"

"Why do I talk to you people?"

"—so I can't imagine anyone who Weiss didn't already want to date could ask her out."

"I bet Weiss just wants someone she wouldn't be embarrassed showing to her dad."

"Wait," Jaune said, "are you saying Weiss would be embarrassed if she showed me to her dad?"

"Well...you are kinda awkward."

"And pathetic," Weiss said. "Just like his question."

"Well?" Yang said. "What's your Mister Right like?"

"...If Ruby doesn't have to answer _her_ question about crushes, I don't have to answer this one."

"But she already answered the question," Jaune said. "Didn't she?"

"I did."

"...Fine. I want a proper gentleman who knows when to leave me alone. Is that fine?"

"I don't think Weiss likes the game anymore," Yang said.

Weiss grumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said, if you asked better questions I'd be having the time of my life."

"So..." Ruby smiled. "You think we're out of good questions?"

"Yes, but why are you smiling?"

"If we're out of good questions, we can move on."

"You have something else planned?" Blake asked.

"Of course! A leader must _always_ be prepared! I've got a plan of action that carries us through a _bunch_ of stages of learning about each other up through practical application of that knowledge!"

"Please tell me that you mean another stupid game like this one," Weiss mumbled.

"Of course not! We need to learn more about our team so we can _fight_ as a team!"

"I'm afraid to ask," Blake said.

"Come on, we just need to ask Ozpin about going outside!" Ruby sprang to her feet.

"It's raining!" Weiss complained.

"Grab a raincoat or something, we don't have any time to waste! We have classes tomorrow!"

"Can I come?" Jaune asked.

Ruby frowned and put her hands behind her back. "Sorry, Jaune, but you'd probably just get in the way."

"No, I get it, it's a team exercise." He watched Team RWBY (especially Weiss) as they walked away.

"Proper gentleman who can leave her alone," Jaune muttered. "I'll need to work on that..."

* * *

A guest left a review questioning some of the premises of this fic. Since I can't PM him, I'll do this instead.

He questioned both Ruby bossing her team around and her having a crush on Jaune. As to the former, please look at Volume 2, Episode 1. Ruby probably wouldn't have forced her team to follow her Best Day Ever plans if they objected, but she didn't ask for a vote before declaring that they would follow it. And the latter...well, I agree that Ruby doesn't actually feel like dating anyone yet, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have crushes on people. As many people have pointed out to me, she's fifteen. (Besides, it makes the jokes work. This isn't such a serious story that that wasn't a consideration.)


	4. The Final Task

"And we're officially in the wild!" Ruby proclaimed.

She leaped forward into a puddle. Yang followed, sharing her umbrella with Weiss, who also wore a pale poncho. Blake, protected from the rain by a dark raincoat, closed the small gate behind them.

"This still seems like a bad idea," Blake said.

"It's perfectly safe! We'll be in range of a couple of the wall's turrets, and if we're really in trouble we can call Ozpin and he'll send help!"

"I can't believe he actually gave you permission to go outside the wall," Weiss muttered.

"And I couldn't believe I got to come to Beacon two years early!" Ruby jumped into the air. "Headmaster Ozpin's _awesome!_ But we'll be okay. The big Grimm usually don't even come as close as Mountain Glenn."

"And the medium-sized Grimm aren't a threat?" Weiss snapped.

"They really aren't," Yang said. "I mean, it wasn't _easy_ to kill that Greater Nevermore, but it wasn't really _hard_ either."

Blake shrugged. "And if anything that size was so close to Vale, actual Huntsmen would be sent to deal with it. They have a point."

"We still shouldn't underestimate the Grimm," Weiss said. "And didn't _you_ say you thought this was a bad idea?"

"For reasons unrelated to safety."

"Such as?"

* * *

"Where _are_ they?" Ruby asked.

Team RWBY had been wandering around the Emerald Forest for half an hour.

"We're right next to Vale," Blake said. "There aren't many Grimm here."

"But initiation wasn't any farther away!"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "You didn't think there were _normally_ that many Grimm that close, did you?"

"Huh?"

Yang patted her sister on the head. "Ruby hasn't been outside the walls of Vale since she was really little."

"The dunce _still_ should realize that there aren't that many Grimm around. If there were, every village and tribe would be destroyed in a week tops and travel between Kingdoms would be _impossible_!"

"I get it, I messed up," Ruby muttered. "But I don't want to leave until we find one!"

"What are we doing when we _do_ find a Grimm?" Blake asked.

Ruby turned to face her team, smiled, and closed her eyes. "Now _that_...is a secret!"

Weiss moaned in anger.

* * *

"I hear something," Blake whispered.

"Finally!" Ruby shouted. "Where?"

Out of the bushes, a pale serpent as thick as a telephone pole sprang at Yang. She leaped out of the way and twisted her arms, transforming her Ember Celica from bracelets into gauntlets.

"Wait!" Ruby exclaimed. "Don't attack it!"

Weis sighed. "Ruby, that's a taijitu."

"I know! But if we just kill it, we came out here for nothing!"

The Grimm lunged at Blake, who jumped into a nearby low-lying tree branch.

"What are you going on about?" Weiss shouted.

"Who's thinking about attacking the monster?" Ruby asked.

" _What?!_ "

"Me, Weiss, and Blake," Yang said, dodging the serpent's other head. "And I think Weiss is thinking about attacking you."

"Not just yet, no." One of the heads snapped at Weiss. "But I'm getting close!"

"What are we doing with the Grimm?" Blake asked. "Or is that still a secret?"

"Instead of attacking, tell me what you're gonna do and why!" Ruby smiled and she vaulted over the taijitu's black neck. "That way, we learn about how we think in combat and can predict each other better!"

"Clever," Blake said, "except for one issue."

"Really? What?"

" _You're insane!"_ Weiss shouted.

"Essentially," Blake said dryly.

"I'm going to grab it to stall for time," Yang said, grabbing the white end of the Grimm. "This is gonna take a while."

"You have _no_ business directing us if you can't see problems this _massive_ with plans you create!" Weiss shouted.

"Yeah, no one help me," Yang muttered, kicking at the black head.

"Weiss has a point," Blake said. She shifted to a sitting position on the branch. "I will shoot the other head to aid my teammate without getting too close to her feet." Blake proceeded to do so.

"That's great!" Ruby said. "What's next?"

"Are you even _listening_ to me?" Weiss demanded.

"No one's listening to me," Yang grumbled as she tried to tie the white end of the taijitu into a knot. "Ow! Blake, shoot the other head more or something!"

"This plan is _insane!_ We should just kill the taijitu, go inside, dry off, and—" The black end of the taijitu whipped around and knocked Weiss off her feet.

"I'm going to cut the neck—" Ruby started.

" _Just freaking ATTACK it!"_ Weiss demanded as she scrambled to her feet.

"Careful!" Yang said. "I'm still here!"

Ruby drew Crescent Rose and twirled it, before dashing towards the Grimm. It twisted its head out of the way, but not enough. The black head of the beast flew off its neck and struck Blake in the abdomen. She was knocked off-balance and dropped her weapon to grab another branch.

Weiss stabbed the white head of the taijitu. "I'm going to stab the other head because this is pointless. Wouldn't it make more sense to do this while sparring?"

"I don't think JNPR would slow down just for us."

Weiss stared at Ruby.

"Right. Sparring."

"We could spar each other," Blake said, sliding down from the tree. "Slowly, explaining why we're doing what we're doing."

"Right!" Ruby declared. "Team RWBY is doing Blake's idea!"

"Maybe in an hour," Yang said, standing up. "Weiss got a little mud on her clothes when she got knocked down."

" _I'm_ muddy?" Weiss asked.

"You kinda are," Ruby said.

"My _point_ is that Yang's being a hypocrite."

"Yang is not a hypocrite!"

"She's _covered_ in mud."

"That doesn't make her a hypocrite!"

"It does when she's calling other people muddy!"

"What?"

"Why are you so _childish?_ " Weiss yelled.

"Why are you so _mean?_ " Ruby retorted.

"Why are both of you so muddy?" Yang asked.

Ruby glanced down at herself. "Huh? I'm not mu—"

Yang shoved her sister into a mud puddle.

"Yaaang! I'm telling Dad!"

Blake sighed as she wiped mud off of Gambol Shroud using a convenient bush. "What have I done to deserve this team?"

* * *

"Hello, Ruby."

"He—Headmaster Ozpin!" Ruby tried to straighten out her muddy cape a little. "Hi! Um. What brings you here?"

"I do try to keep an eye on students who wander outside of the walls. Speaking of whom, where are your teammates?"

"Oh! Um, the Cornells apparently clogged up most of the shower heads on our floor, so Yang and Weiss are showering in the ones which work and I'm trying to find another. We kinda got dirty. Except Blake, she mostly stayed clean. She's reading."

Ozpin nodded. "A lesson the rest of you need to learn is that sometimes, progress requires you to do a little dirty work."

"Um...okay?"

"Tell me, how has your training with your team gone so far?"

"Huh? Well, okay I guess."

"Are you telling me what you believe, or what you think I want to hear?"

"I'm pretty sure that you're going to tell me about why what I did was right, actually."

Ozpin smiled. "You are learning. Good. Now tell me, what are your concerns about the training you attempted?"

"Well...no one else seemed to like it. I mean, they didn't think it would do anything. Yang always supported me, but I think it's just because she's my sister." Ruby sighed and stared at her feet. "She was probably laughing at me on the inside."

Ozpin shook his head. "Ruby, you shouldn't let what other people think dictate your actions, and you certainly shouldn't concern yourself with _what_ _you think_ other people think."

"But they're right, aren't they? All this stuff was just a stupid idea."

"No."

Ruby looked up at the headmaster. "No?"

"Yes. There are no stupid ideas, only poor implementations."

"Really?"

"Of course. You _should_ be learning about your teammates. How can you fight with someone you don't know?"

"I don't think we learned anything useful, though..."

"There is no such thing as useless knowledge. I have no doubt you will lead your team better after today. Haven't you learned more about them?"

"...I guess I did."

"And would you say your teammates learned more about you, and each other?"

"Yeah?"

"Which was your intent for this afternoon, was it not?"

"Yeah?"

"Which means you were successful."

"But..."

"Tell me something."

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"What did you learn?"

"Um...well, Blake's favorite color is gray..."

Ozpin was shaking his head.

"Huh?"

"I find it hard to imagine that you can't think of even a single thing which can be directly applied to combat."

Ruby thought. "...Yang likes to wrestle things?"

"No."

"Weiss is easily distractable?"

"Sometimes useful, but not what I had in mind."

"Um..."

"What do you intend to do after showering, and why?"

"...Uh, I learned that it's good to spar?"

Ozpin shook his head. "Why are you sparring?"

"To learn more—"

"What inspired you to _spar_?"

"Oh! It's because Blake said it, and the lesson is—I need to let the others plan stuff some?"

Ozpin smiled. "I suspect that all of the issues you encountered could have been avoided if you had discussed your plans with your teammates beforehand."

"I...that probably would have helped. Thanks, Headmaster Ozpin!"

"Think nothing of it."

Ozpin watched as Ruby hurried to a nearby shower block. _She has so much talent, and so much to learn._ _To think that she and others like her will be the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses...I thank the heavens I don't have to do this alone._

* * *

"Nice sparring!" Ruby said. "I think we learned a lot today. That was a good idea, Blake."

Blake shrugged and opened her book.

"Are we finally done with your ridiculous schemes?" Weiss asked.

"Well, I didn't have anything else planned. What do you guys think?"

Weiss groaned.

"Um, do you have any ideas, Weiss?"

"I think this was all a waste of time."

"Well, what do you think we should have done instead?"

"We got beaten by _Jaune's_ team," Yang pointed out. "We need to do _something_."

"...We need to practice fighting together," Weiss said. "My father sometimes had my sister and I spar our fencing tutor together, trying to promote teamwork between us. We should spar against each other in pairs some time, and _not_ practicing those absurd team attacks."

"They're a good idea!" Ruby insisted. "We just need more practice."

"Sounds good to me," Yang said. "I've had some ideas we might be able to use, too."

"We can't let our studies go by the wayside," Blake added. "There is a reason we study more than mere combat. It may help us realize some facet of tactics we overlooked. Even if it doesn't, the value of knowing _when_ and _whom_ to fight can't be overstated."

Ruby smiled. She felt a lot more confident about this tem working out after all.


End file.
